or forced into exile abroad. the comprehensive immigrationreformlawunderconsideration includes important provisions to make businesses more competitive. this does the same, which is why it is supported by fortune 500 companies like intel, marriott, texas instruments, u.s. airways. the failure to recognize gay and lesbian families is a direct impact on american business. in a letter last month to the eight senators who authored the border security economic opportunity and immigration modernization act, a coalition of 28 of the most prominent companies wrote, we of each work to help american employees whose families were split apart because ey cannot sponsor the permanent partners for immigration benefits. we lost productivityhen those families are sepated. with borne the cost of transferring and retraining employees talented employees so they may live a lot of -- they live abroad with loved ones. it is not just major corporations that lose out. in columbia, south carolina, restaurant owner with 25 employees recently made the decision to close the business in order to move so he could be w

. i want to congratulate and thank all ofthelawenforcementauthorities for the extraordinary job that they have been doing on behalf of our citizens. in the past few days, we have seen the best and the worst of human behavior. it is the best that all of us really want to focus on. like everyone, we are going to keep watching. we will await word from the law enforcement officers before commenting further. it's a huge easure fore and an important moment to welcome one of our most important partners, our close neighbor and our friend, and i want to welcome my friend, the secretary. one of the first calls i made when i became secretary of state was to josé. we share an alma mater together. he was a graduate student, i was an undergraduate. whatever we don't say right today, you can blame it on them. we obviously share much much more than alma mater. both of us are privileged to represent our extraordinary countries. we share a remarkable friendship and very strong partnership that is growing stronger all the time. for generations we have lived side-by-side as families and neighbors,

with this legislation. we are a safer countrywhenlaw- enforcementknows who is here, has their fingerprints, photos, conduct background checks, and no wonder these to look at needles through haystacks. both the refugee program and asylum program have been significantly strengthened in the past five years, such that we are much more careful about screening people in determining who should or should not be coming into the country. if there are any changes that our homeland security experts tell us we need to be made -- s, security experts tell us need to be made -- a there were widespread erroneous reports of arrests being made. this emphasizes how important it is to let the facts come out before jumping to any conclusions. mostieve this is the balanced piece of immigration legislation that has been ever produced. the american people and all of our colleagues should read this bill over the next few weeks. they will have ample time to look at every page and every paragraph before we go to markup in the committee. what they will find is a bill the secures our borders, combats the overstay, cracks down

will be placed on the record for those who stood up for sensible gunsafetylawsinamerica. i think jo put it well. the parents who have come here and the family members -- i think joe put it well. the parent to have come here in the family members, we need to find a political courage with the disappointment in this vote today. this is not the end. there is more that we can do and will do. reaching out to convince members who voted the other way today and perhaps in the next election to challenge them. bring the issue forward to the american people. this is worth the fight. we have got to stand up to bring sensible gun safety to america. god forbid what tomorrow's victims will be, but we know they will be there. we have to do everything we can to spare another family from this agree. thank you. let me salute all of my andeagues, particularly joe the families who have lit a candle. that is a hard, hard thing to do when you go through what they went through. you do not want to get out of bed, let alone come here and argue truth to power, which you have done. it will not be forgotten. it will

internal administrative restriction we all have given through congress. i don't know whatthelawis.>> we will make a request on that. and appreciate your follow-up on it. we go now to karen bass of california. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i want to congratulate secretary kerry on your appointment and also join my colleagues in expressing my condolences. i look forward to working with you and especially working with the committed women and men at the state department. i have to tell you that i have really enjoyed working directly with the state department and i'm honored to have an excellent pearson fellow in my office who i am looking forward to continue to work with me. as the ranking member of the africa subcommittee, i wanted to share with you several priority issues i hope you'll consider. first of all u.s.-africa trade relations. number two, the importance of development assistance programs, including global hiv-aids funding through pet far. and number three, support for peacekeeping operation. as you know the u.n. is considering establishing a peacekeeping isce in mali, and there al

of prosperity and of nations living by ruleoflawandof nation's living in peace. countries where strong human rights prevail our countries where people do better, economies thrive, rule of law is stronger, governments are more effective and more responsive, and they are countries that lead on the world stage and project stability across their regions. strong respect for human rights isn't merely an indicator that a country is likely doing well. it actually unleashes a countries potential, and it helps to advance growth and progress. so i ask you just to think of the country like burma for a minute. because of steps towards democratic reform and stronger human rights protections, a country that had been isolated for years is now making progress. as it reached where we wanted to be? know, but it's on the road. it's moving. and more people are contributed economy and participating in the government, leading toasr growth andnt. and by starting to embrace universal rights, the burmese government has opened the doors to a stronger partnership with their neighborhood and with countries around the wo